When should you not use Ubuntu LInux

My very good colleague Morten asked a very relevant question in the company discussion forum:
Why should you not wish to use Ubuntu Linux. That was his question after reading that my laptop running with Ubuntu 9.04 and the EXT4 file system boots and starts up Firefox in 42 seconds.

Here is my reply.

There are lots of reasons why you should not run Ubuntu.

Microsoft Windows software does not run on Ubuntu

This is the short reply. There are ways of running MS Windows software on Ubuntu, but thery are for the initiates of the 7th circle who also read the F...... manual. And even for those, not all Windows software will run on Linux.

The short version: MS Windows software wil not run on Ubuntu.

There are not Linux editions available for all software titles

You have to make a list of software titles or generic software needs. And then you start ticking off the list. If all needs are met, go ahead and run Ubuntu.

I for instance need a graphics package. On MS Windows I use Paint Shop Pro. There is a nice Graphics package called GIMP available in the standard Ubuntu installation. Check.
Note: The Domino Designer client is not available for Linux.

Not all hardware is supported

If you are running high-end, cutting edge or exotic hardware, it might not be supported.
It is my impression that this problem is not so big as it has been.

Other issues

Web banking. Will it run on Linux. Some banks' web interfaces do and others don't run in Firefox on Linux. Mine works.

Digital signature - a Danish Digital signature for logging on to (mostly) government-run websites. You have to jump hoops and do special magic tricks to make it work. I haven't had any success yet. A colleague says he managed.

Who should not run Ubuntu?

A Lotus Notes Developer. No Notes designer Client.

Who should run Ubuntu?

In a company context I would say it would work for your average Office worker. Email, Document management, web surf. No problem.
Network admins and both Java and HTML developers will be fine with Ubuntu.

In the home context:
People who do not need to play games.
The technically inclined. Or those who have a neighbour who is.
People without high-end hardware
People that like fixing problems.

kommentarer

1 - My mistake, wrong terminology. Nomad, not Traveller.

If you have Wine installed then it does work. But not the full blown Eclipse based development.
Skrevet af / Written by Dragon Cotterill fra 17:25:18 På 27-04-2009 | - Hjemmeside - |

Gravatar Image2 - I beg to differ about your comment that you cannot use the Designer.

I use Notes Traveller on a USB stick. I plug it into my Acer Aspire One (Linpus) and it boots up into the Windows version of the client. However if you copy the Designer and Admin executables from a normal install IT WILL STILL RUN!

You will have issues with some dialog boxes, and it probably won't allow you to do the full Eclipse based development, but you can get Designer up and running.

I now use it on my travels (it's a lot smaller and lighter in my backpack) and still have access to my machines and those last minute tweaks that clients always demand.
Skrevet af / Written by Dragon Cotterill fra 16:15:37 På 27-04-2009 | - Hjemmeside - |

Gravatar Image3 - @Mike
Take it easy, my friend. You make it sound like I'm against Linux. I am actually very much for Linux. Including on the Desktop. I am running Ubuntu on my laptop and WinXP on my workstation. And I like Ubuntu Linux so much that I am missing Ubuntu features when working on the workstation.
My post here was a copy/pasted and then translated (to English from Danish) post from a discussion with a colleague who expects me to be honest about how I look at tech stuff.
And to be honest, from my point of view, getting Ubuntu or CentOS (those are my reference points) to work with the same set of "generic software needs" honored for someone like me or my colleague requires some work. And it is more work than getting WinXP to work and honoring the same needs.
There is no question that you can make (most of) it all work. But it will require you to do things that are more time consuming and research intensive than just getting a WinXP to work.

Notes
I know that the Notes client is available. But that is not a reason to not run Ubuntu. And my post was about why you should not run it Emoticon my Notesclient on Ubuntu works just fine.

Exotic hardware
This is something I've heard. And I have also heard that the problem is going away.

Digital Signature
The people in charge of the signature know. And they are fixing it this year.

Designer client
I am usually a fighter. I'm running Ubuntu on my laptop, remember? Emoticon
I never heard of VirtualBox... A quick google-check.... Ah, it's like an OpenSource VmWare player or workstation. Well, yes.... My laptop is not powerful enough for that.... It wasn't for VmWare player... I think I'll give VirtualBox a go. Why not?

Games
Then again, there are lots of free Linux games for children. My children like them just because they make a change.

Tech support for neighbours
Actually, I help my Vista-neighbours all the time Emoticon

Gravatar Image4 - Interesting. I am not sure I quite understand what you do to make the designer work.
Are you saying I could copy the designer.exe to my /opt/ibm/lotus/notes directory on Ubuntu and expect that to give me a (limited) Designer client?
Notes traveller in my dictionary is something for pushing mail/calendar to smartphones and Symbian devices. Is there a Traveller I have not heard about here?

Gravatar Image5 - >> Microsoft Windows software does not run on Ubuntu
True. Wine and VirtualBox/VMWare type solutions are for techies only. For end-users, they're a non-starter.

However, running software titles is a means to an end, not an end in itself. The questions should be "are there ways of doing what I need to do on Ubuntu or not?", which is what you're getting at in your next section, I think.

There are not Linux editions available for all software titles
The Notes client is available!!!

Not all hardware is supported
Like what? To which "exotic hardware" do you refer? Is this your experience or is it something that you've heard? I'd put Ubuntu's hardware compatibility ahead of Windows Vista's any day.

Web banking. Will it run on Linux.
Some banks' web interfaces do and
others don't run in Firefox on
Linux. Mine works.
I'd say this is an IE vs Firefox issue rather than a Linux issue. If it runs on Windows Firefox it will run on Linux Firefox too.

It's been a long time since I've seen a site of any kind, let alone a bank site, that gave me the "works only with IE" message. When I see those, I complain to the site in question and tell them I'm taking my business elsewhere.

Digital signature - a Danish Digital signature etc....
Have you complained to your government? Maybe remind them who pays their wages, and ask why those wages are being used to promote and subsidise an American monopoly?

Who should not run Ubuntu?
A Lotus Notes Developer. No
Notes designer Client.
You seem given to admitting defeat without even trying. I run Windows on VirtualBox to use my Designer client. I then have another Windows virtual machine to run an "ordinary" Notes client, so that I test out features like roaming profiles.

Who should run Ubuntu?
In the home context:
People who do not need to play games.
Yep, the games are a real Achilles heel. There are some good ones there if you look, but I still need a Windows partition for left4dead!

The technically inclined. Or those who have a neighbour who is.
People without high-end hardware
People that like fixing problems
Sure, no techie guy ever had to sort out a friend or neighbour's Windows PC for them, have they!!? Nothing ever goes wrong there. They "just work"!!!